Rahmatullah successfully negotiated the release of Gabriele Torsello, an Italian taken hostage in October 2006.
[1] The Independent reports that Rahmatullah carried a $2 million ransom to secure Torsello's release.
After Mastrogiacomo's release, Rahmatullah was taken into custody by Afghan authorities, with a spokesman for the Afghan intelligence service claiming that Rahmatullah had played a part in the capture of Mastrogiacomo by the Taliban.
[1] Gino Strada, the founder of Emergency, spoke out on Rahmatullah's behalf:[1] "These insinuations are completely infamous and unfounded.
It's the first time in history that when an exchange of prisoners takes place because the two sides decide to trust someone to carry the operation through that that person is then himself arrested.